After a mess of big name releases last Tuesday we're heading back to the underground this week. While the usual heavy hitters (Relapse, Southern Lord, Century Media, etc) take a week off it's time for the likes of Listenable, Peaceville, and Throatruiner to shine.
Darkthrone – The Underground Resistance
Genre: Thrash/Punk/Black Metal
Origin: Oslo, Norway
Label: Peaceville
Buy on Amazon.com
James Zalucky ruminates on the latest from Fenriz and Nocturno Culto, labeling it "a fiery masterstroke" and finding that it "shows a culmination of years of evolution and refinement of the band's sound". Read his full review here.
Mustasch – Sounds Like Hell, Looks Like Heaven
Genre: Hard Rock/Stoner
Origin: Gothenburg, Sweden
Label: Metalville
Buy on Amazon.com
Somehow these guys managed to put out six full length albums before landing on my radar. Don't let the fact that the opening track is called "Speed Metal" fool you: this is 70's-derived hard rock through and through, essentially a radio-friendly act – this album has already gone gold in Sweden though it's just now getting a US release – that would be considered on the lighter, more accessible end of the stoner rock spectrum.
Pristina – Hopeless•Godless
Genre: Sludge/Hardcore
Origin: Meriden, Connecticut
Label: The Path Less Traveled Records
Buy on Amazon.com
This is some pretty goddamn unholy sludge right here. At 33 minutes Hopeless • Godless kind of straddles the line between EP and LP, but much like a high intensity grind record a half hour of this shit is about as much as any emotionally stable human being can hope to withstand.
Ruins – Place of No Pity
Genre: Black Metal
Origin: Hobart, Tasmania
Label: Listenable Records
Buy on Amazon.com
This was originally self-released to the Oceania area in July of 2012 but is just now getting picked up by Listenable for a worldwide release (and with much improved artwork, I should add). If you've slept on Ruins up to now this is a good time to sit up and pay attention. Place of No Pity is fairly traditional black metal, long on atmosphere with occasional forays into brutality.
Stratovarius – Nemesis
Genre: Power Metal
Origin: Helsinki, Finland
Label: Armoury
Buy on Amazon.com
Not much to say on this one. One of the premier European power metal bands since the late 80's, Stratovarius have been through their share of members over the years but have managed to maintain a benchmark level of melodic excellence through out. Nemesis continues in that vein.
Vuyvr – Eiskalt
Genre: Black Metal
Origin: Geneva, Switzerland
Label: Throatruiner
It's probably safe to say that when most metal fans hear "Switzerland" they immediately think Celtic Frost, but Encyclopaedia Metallum lists a good 748 bands from that sleepy bastion of neutrality. Vuyvr seems to emerge fully fledged from a healthy black metal scene, Eiskalt being one of the more impressive debuts I've heard from the genre in quite some time.
Also out today:
Apparitions – Kiss Me Sleeping (Indianola)
Apolokia – Kathaarian Vortex (My Kingdom)
Byzantine – Byzantine (Gravedancer)
Centurian – Contra Rationem (Listenable)
Crest Of Darkness – In The Presence Of Death (My Kingdom)
Demented – Across The Nature’s Stillness (Klonosphere)
De Arma – Lost, Alien & Forlorn (Trollmusic)
En Nihil – The Approaching Dark (Eibon)
Heimdall – Aeneid (Scarlet)
Helker – Somewhere In The Circle (AFM)
Incura – Incura (Coalition)
Karnya – Coverin' Thoughts (Bakerteam)
Liberty N' Justice – The Cigar Chronicles (Roxx)
Mysticum – In The Streams Of Inferno Re-Release (Peaceville)
Nader Sadek – Living Flesh (Self)
Octaves – Greener Pastures (Topshelf)
Old Wounds – From Where We Came Is Where We'll Rest (Glory Kid)
The Phantom Carriage – Falls (Throatruiner)
Rage Of Angels – Dreamworld (Escape)
Red Rose – On The Cusp Of Change (Scarlet)
A Story Of Rats – Vastness & The Inverse (Translinguistic Other)
Uvikra – Bi (Badgod)
Within The Ruins – Elite (eOne/Good Fight)
